– Brought strong, damaging easterly winds to much of the area through the day on March 13, especially along the New Jersey coast, where minor to moderate coastal flooding took place.

– Dropped 4 to 6 inches of rain, on average, in the hardest hit areas, including the northern New Jersey coastline, east-central New Jersey and northeastern New Jersey. Up to 7 inches was reported in isolated areas.

– Resulted in major river flooding, including the highest flood crest ever recorded along the Pompton River at Pompton Plains on March 14.

– Forced officials to close parts of the New Jersey Turnpike and forced a near complete shutdown of the NJ Transit system. A high-rise crane toppled in Atlantic City, causing dangerous debris to drop to the ground.

– Caused about 459,000 PSE&G customers to lose power on March 13 – the highest number in the utility’s history.

– Caused damage to thousands of businesses and residences in flood-prone areas. Flooding along the Passaic, Ramapo and Pompton rivers damaged more than 1,300 buildings in Morris County alone, according to officials.

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About Todd B. Bates

Todd covers the environment and severe weather for the Asbury Park Press, which he joined on Earth Day in 1985. He's covered myriad environmental, energy, health, weather and scientific issues since 1980. He's taken graduate-level courses in environmental health, environmental risk assessment and public health. Todd, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service, is a member of the Investigations Team. Follow him at www.Twitter/ToddBBatesAPP, www.Facebook.com/ToddBBates, http://instagram.com/toddbbatesapp, www.toddbbatesapp.tumblr.com, or Google+ https://plus.google.com/+ToddBBates/

One Response to Severe nor’easter assaulted our area

A bad storm for sure, but regarding erosion there is an important fact to keep in mind. Much of the sand is not “lost”, it is in the near-shore area underwater in sand bars. Yet politicians flanked by Army Corps officials and or DEP officials, aided by the media, run out to the beaches, declare disaster and say, “Look how much sand was lost.” Again, it is not lost.

This happened in Ocean City, NJ after November’s “Nor’Ida. Officials there declared $89 million in damage immediately after the storm. Then FEMA came in and said it was actually $6 million. So the local folks were not even close.

The discrepancy comes from FEMA’s rule that “lost” sand is not really lost, and it certainly isn’t an emergency. FEMA only will pay for damaged to dunes, a true emergency.

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Todd B. BatesTodd covers the environment and severe weather for the Asbury Park Press, which he joined on Earth Day in 1985. He's covered myriad environmental, energy, health, weather and scientific issues since 1980. He's taken graduate-level courses in environmental health, environmental risk assessment and public health. Todd, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service, is a member of the Investigations Team. Follow him at www.Twitter/ToddBBatesAPP, www.Facebook.com/ToddBBates, http://instagram.com/toddbbatesapp, www.toddbbatesapp.tumblr.com, or Google+ https://plus.google.com/+ToddBBates/E-mail Todd